There's very little loyalty left in sports these days — not exactly a shocking revelation, I know. The thing is, it's not just teams and it's not just players that lack fidelity; it's everybody. Just look at recent events.
Marvin Harrison, a lifetime member of the Indianapolis Colts, recently asked for his release from the team at age 36. Garret Anderson and the Angels spent 15 years together, but now both have moved on to different things. The Braves, who had seen Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine skip town in previous offseasons, low-balled franchise icon John Smoltz because he's had injury problems, and Smoltz, in turn, left the only team he's ever known for a few million bucks — chump change compared to what he's earned over the course of his 20 years in the big leagues.
So, with this being the current state of sports — franchises making pure, unemotional, calculating "business" decisions only and players being roughly equivalent to hired guns (ahem, Manny Ramirez) — forgive me for being excited that Ken Griffey, Jr. has decided to return to the team with which he originally became famous, the Seattle Mariners.
You don't have to be a sports fan to realize how thrilling and exceptional it is for something like this to happen. It would be like Shaq and Kobe reuniting in Los Angeles. Or Will Ferrell returning to Saturday Night Live. Or Simon and Garfunkel teaming up again.
It reminds me of when Tino Martinez came back to New York on a one-year contract in 2005. I was ecstatic when the Yanks brought back the Bam-Tino because he was a remnant of the glory days, but Griffey returning to Seattle is about 100 times more monumental; I can't even imagine what it's like to be a Mariners fan right now.
Of course, not everybody agrees that this was a good move by the Mariners. Some think that general manager Jack Zduriencik, who said he was going to take the nostalgia out of the decision-making when asked about Griffey earlier this year, clearly did not do so. The critics will say that Griffey is taking away at-bats from younger players on a rebuilding team, and the sabermetricians will tell you that he's been declining for years and is only going to get worse.
But these people are overblowing the situation. The Mariners have plenty of roster spots available — right now, Endy Chavez would be starting in the outfield and Russell Branyan or Mike Sweeney would see most of the action at first base, so don't tell me Griffey's going to be stealing at-bats from the kids. And while I have all the respect in the world for stats and PECOTA projections, I think there's also value in, you know, actually watching the game from time to time. And when I watched Griffey last year, it was pretty clear what his problem was: He could still hit a breaking ball left over the plate, but he just couldn't turn on an inside fastball. Then, it was later revealed that he'd been playing with a hamstring injury all year. Hmm, do you think that might've affected his ability to catch up to a heater?
I'm not saying Griffey's going to turn into the player he used to be with the Mariners, but I don't think it's outrageous to expect a bit of a bounce-back. And even if he doesn't, he's signed to a one-year, $2 million contract — not exactly a big risk.
For a team and a player that didn't have much to look forward to this year, this signing makes sense. And while it will probably turn out to be forgettable by mid-season, maybe, just maybe, Griffey can recapture that magical swing that made him a demigod in the '90s and the Mariners can make a run at the playoffs in a weak division. Either way, Seattle fans and baseball fans in general have something genuine to be excited about. And in the era of steroids and player-mercenaries, I think that's a good thing.
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David Heck is a junior majoring in philosophy. He can be reached at David.Heck@tufts.edu.
